Les verbes: le futur simple

The futur simple is the future tense in French. When you conjugate a verb in le futur simple, you add the word 'will' in front of that verb. There are different rules for ER and IR, RE, and irregular verbs.


Les verbes ER et IR
For regular ER and IR verbs, do not take off the ER and IR like you do in the present tense. Keep the entire infinitive and then add the endings:

Je ---ai
Tu ---as
Il ---a
Elle ---a
Nous ---ons
Vous ---ez
Ils ---ont
Elles ---ont

To help you remember the endings, they are almost the same as the verb avoir conjugated in the present tense (except for nous and vous).


eg. parler

Je parlerai (I will talk)
Tu parleras
Il/Elle/On/Qui parlera
Nous parlerons
Vous parlerez
Ils/Elles parleront


eg. finir

Je finirai (I will finish)
Tu finiras
Il/Elle/On/Qui finira
Nous finirons
Vous finirez
Ils/Elles finiront

Les verbes RE
For regular RE verbs, take off the E only and then add the same endings as for ER and IR verbs.


eg. vendre

Je vendrai (I will sell)
Tu vendras
Il/Elle/On/Qui vendra
Nous vendrons
Vous vendrez
Ils/Elles vendront

Les verbes irréguliers
Just like in the present tense, there are many verbs that are irregular in le futur simple and do not follow the patterns of ER, IR, and RE verbs. Here is a list of what the most common irregular verbs change to before you add the endings:

être = ser
avoir = aur
faire = fer
aller = ir
vouloir = voudr
venir = viendr
pouvoir = pourr
voir = verr
courir = courr
mourir = mourr
savoir = saur
envoyer = enverr
devoir = devr

To conjugate an irregular verb, start with the irregular stem listed above, and then add the futur simple endings:


eg. être (ser)
Je serai (I will be)
Tu seras
Il/Elle/On/Qui sera
Nous serons
Vous serez
Ils/Elles seront

To make any verb in the futur simple negative, place the ne...pas around the verb.

eg. Je ne serai pas (I will not be)